STAMFORD -- Corey Horrigan always sees the glass as half-full. So much so that his Stamford micro-brewery Half Full Brewery has recently opened its doors to a loyal following of craft brew aficionados that he calls "hoptimists." Hoptimists are defined as people who, like Horrigan, are passionate about locally brewed craft beer and take a favorable view of life.

Born from a desire to do something that matters, Horrigan's business model is based on contributing to the greater good while exposing the community to locally-crafted beer.

"It's surprising that there are not many craft beers produced in Fairfield County, but there are many people here who appreciate them," said Horrigan.

As part of their community outreach Hall Full conducts "Craft Over Craft", a monthly meeting at the brewery where aspiring crafters meet at Half Full to enjoy complementary craft beer and network, share and get feedback on ideas for new small businesses.

"People become most animated and passionate when talking about their ideas," Horrigan said. "What we provide is confidential setting where people can introduce themselves and their product ideas."

"Half Full joined forces with us at Espresso NEAT to do what we do best--brew delicious coffee--for their Chocolate Coffee Brown Ale. Many of our respective customers played a part in choosing the perfect coffee for the beer, and we're thrilled with the final product."

After testing endless combinations of coffee flavors from Espresso NEAT Coffee Shop, and gathering consumer opinions from a November taste test, the votes were counted and the final product has hit the taps in Stamford area restaurants and bars.

"We don't do the voting with evey new beer, but with our funkier beers, it's great to get opinions and it's great to expose people to different types of beer," Horrigan said. "This beer is a great overlap between artisanal coffee and craft beer.

The genesis of Half Full came about while Horrigan was working on Wall Street, but found the corporate world uninspiring.

It was during a 2008 trip to Lima, Peru with his fiancé Lindsay, her brother, and a 50-pound backpack, Horrigan decided he needed to make a change. In 2008, I decided to start a business that brough people together and was celebratory in nature.

Horrigan applied to the University of Connecticut MBA program and constructed his business plan.

" I spent the whole summer leading up to this program learning everything I could about brewing and the beer business at Rob Leonard's New England Brewing in Woodbridge, Connecticut," Horrigan said. "I homebrewed with my uncle, my sister, my brothers, my friends, and by myself. I spoke to anyone and everyone that had any connection to beer. And I spoke to anyone who wanted to listen about what it meant to be half full and pursuing my passion to start Half Full."

On September 28th, 2011, with the helped of family and friends, Horrigan reached his minimum fund raising goal, and Half Full became a reality.

" We started demolishing and building out our space in April 2012 with the help of countless friends and family members who would stop by nearly every night or simply stop by late night on the way through town to lend a helping hand. In May, our equipment arrived and by the end of June, two more members joined the Half Full team, Jordan Giles and Chris Heagney, guys who have been putting their hearts and souls into Half Full ever since," Horrigan said.